A stranger in town
by Book-fanatic94
Summary: A new murder is committed in Haven. Audrey and Nathan must find the murderer and bring him to justice. But the story becomes more complicated when Nathan decides to ask for help from an old friend.
1. The Arrival

_**Author's note: I am not a native English speaker, so if there are any grammar mistakes, please let me know. Any type of reviews are welcome. **_

** Chapter one**

** The arrival**

** 1**

Ah, Haven, the most interesting town on Earth!

Its inhabitants are sleeping in this cold winter night, undisturbed by the harsh wind that blows outside, each of them carefully tucked into their own beds, under thick covers to protect them from the harsh cold breath of the winter. The town seems dead, with only a few lights here and there testifying that there is still life here.

On one road that leads into the town, a strange figure lurks in the shadows. It is a short figure, a hunchback creature, one that looks utterly disgusting to the eyes with no knowledge of mythology's undead creatures or of the myths that surround every culture's folklore. Its long hair touches the ground and slowly sweeps the small layer of snow which has settled there. It moves rhythmically with its breath, when the creature inhales, its body moves backward a few centimeters, and when it exhales, the creature's body moves closer to the ground.

The creature appears to closely follow another figure, one that resembles the body of a human being. The human has ragged clothes and between his fingers a small red light can be seen, suggesting it is smoking a cigarette. The human shifts his weight from one foot to another, clearly because of the cold weather, but the creature watching him doesn't seem to notice the cold. It continues its rhythmic stalking, quietly, making sure the human doesn't notice its presence.

All of a sudden, the creature is still. It doesn't breathe anymore; it is merely staring at the figure in front of him. The perfect moment has come. The creature launches its body towards the unsuspecting victim, grabbing it with an extraordinary force as it drags it into the shadows. The victim has no chance in this battle; the creature is far powerful and is far more experienced.

It slams the body of the human on the ground, with one hand keeping it secure on the ground, with the other one ripping his clothes and exposing his white flesh. In a second, its white long fangs rip the flesh of his neck while his victim unconsciously screams for help. The fangs, now deep into the victim's flesh, continue to rip the flesh in order to get to the jugular vein.

In moments, the life of the victim slowly drains away from his body, while the creature feasts off of his blood. His screams were never answered, for the town was asleep in this cold harsh winter night.

** 2**

In the same night when the creature was having its feast off of an unlucky victim, on the road leading into Haven was another figure. This tall, human-like figure walks slowly on the road, carefully looking into the shadows with its eyes, yet with its mind dwelling into a completely different world. The figure wears a beautiful long white dress which sweeps the fresh snow spread on the road. She has no shoes on her feet, nor does she wear a hat. It seems as if she doesn't feel the cold. The wind caresses her long black hair, whispering news from distant places in her ears.

She walks slowly on the road and in the quietness of the world she's in, she can be heard crying. The tears are red, red with blood, and they're falling on her pale white face, creating long red lines. In her sorrow, the creature stops her walking, lets her body fall on the ground and continues to cry, the sadness in her soul spreading around and making all things quiet.

She sits there, in the snow, ignoring all physical pain and focusing on the much stronger one, the one in her soul, for what seems like an eternity, until another figure appears running. It stops, looking at the woman, and then slowly moves towards her. The pale light of the moon shines on its face and one can see clearly the figure approaching the woman is one of a man. He touches her hand slowly and when she gives no sign of noticing him, he moves closer and takes her body in his arms. Her head resting on his chest, he walks towards the town named Haven, the most interesting town on Earth.


	2. The drained body

** Chapter two**

**The drained body**

At 7 AM that morning, the phone rang in Audrey's room. She answered it in a sleepy voice, annoyed that she was woken this early on a Sunday.

"What?"

"Morning. Did I wake you?" asked the caller.

"Yes. What is it, Nathan?"

"Sorry for waking you up, but we got a new murder case on our hands. It's … well, you'll see when you get here" said Nathan and after giving her the address, he hung up.

Audrey got up, dressed, took her gun and FBI badge and walked out to the door. She was frustrated for not being able to take the Sunday off and re-read the file she had on "The Colorado Kid", the woman presumably her mother, but the way Nathan talked about the murder got her curious as well. What could have possibly happened in Haven this time?

She got in the car and drove up to the crime scene. The place was swarming with policemen, CSI men and police cars with flashing blue and red lights. She got out of her car, and after presenting the badge, she was allowed to go to the crime scene. Nathan appeared out of the woods and upon seeing her, he signaled her to follow him.

"So, what do we got?" she asked.

"Homicide, the victim is yet unidentified, but according to the coroner, he is in his late twenties. He died last night around 3 AM from what appears to be an animal attack."

"What kind of animal?" asked Audrey.

"A big one with huge fangs. It drained him."

"It … what?"

"It drained him, Audrey. The body has no blood left in it. Honestly, it looks like a vampire committed this murder."

Audrey looked at him and for a moment, he seemed to frown, but he didn't say anything. "Look, we're here" he said and pointed in the right, behind a big tree. Audrey moved slowly around the tree and when her eyes met the grizzly sight, she immediately covered her mouth. The body was nothing more than a mangled chunk of meat, without any resemblance of a human body. The hands and feet were missing, while the legs were bent at an impossible angle. The face was mutilated and it didn't resemble a face at all.

"Yep, a big animal with big claws" repeated Nathan when Audrey looked back at him with a questionable look on her face.


	3. Elizabeth

** Chapter three**

** Elizabeth**

"Where are we going again?" Audrey asked Nathan. The previous interviews with the locals haven't uncovered any clues as to what kind of animal or being attacked and mutilated a man, so when Nathan mentioned that he had a friend who might know something about this, she jumped on board with the idea.

"I told you, to an old friend. She might know something about all this."

"So, you're going to be all mysterious about it. Okay, suit yourself."

"I'm not being mysterious. It's just … hard to explain" said Nathan, his eyes on the road.

"So she's not a human, like you and I. I see" she nodded, expecting an answer she knew would never come. Nathan was quiet again. The awkward silence between them was hard to bear for Audrey.

"So, how did you meet this old 'friend' of yours?" she asked.

"I met her at a ball."

"A ball? Like a party of sorts? Do people still do that?"

"No, not like a party. A ball is a majestic gathering of people from the old ages, anxiously waiting to meet each other to tell their life story to likeminded people. It is a place where art and beauty in its earliest forms is still exhibited, where the past still lingers and is being praised, where old beliefs and myths are still very much alive in the twenty first century and most importantly, where the old Gods still live and are being praised. It's a magical gathering that takes place only once in a man's life, where ancient tales are still passed on from generation to generation from the mouths of the very people who were in the middle of the action." Nathan stopped and looked at Audrey's confused look on her face. "It's the way she described it."

"Well, some friend you got" she answered back and decided to keep quiet the rest of the trip.

Eventually, they arrived at an old very tall and imposing house in the outskirts of the town. Nathan walked to the door with Audrey next to him and knocked several times on the door. Moments later, while Audrey was admiring the architecture of the house, the door opened revealing an old man with grey hair, dressed in a white shirt with a black jacket on top.

"What can I do for you, gentleman and milady?" he asked them.

"We're here to talk with Elizabeth. Tell her Nathan wants to talk to her. It's about a murder case in Haven."

"Very well then" said the man and invited them in. He took them into a large living room with a couch and an armchair and told them to sit on the couch. As they did so, the man walked upstairs, on the huge stairs, leaving them alone.

"Old fashioned friend, huh?" asked Audrey. "Who is she?"

"You'll see. And let me do the talking, Audrey. She doesn't like it when ordinary people question her knowledge."

"Ordinary people? What makes you so special?"

"It's … never mind, forget it" said Nathan and kept quiet, constantly looking up the stairs.

Minutes later, a door opened up and the figure of a woman climbed down the stairs. She was wearing a long white dress which came in contrast with her flowing dark hair and eyes. She moved swiftly and elegantly on the stairs, catching Audrey's eye. She was watching her with wide eyes, all of a sudden sure that she had seen her before, somewhere, someplace.

The woman smiled broadly as she approached Nathan. He smiled back at her and they hugged tightly, very much like close relatives who haven't seen each other in a very long time. Audrey stayed back and looked closely at the woman in front of her. Who was she? She was sure she had seen her before.

Nathan sat down on the couch afterwards and so did the woman. He briefly introduced Audrey to the woman, mentioning she was nothing else but an "interested colleague". Audrey was fine with that idea at the moment, she focused hard on remembering where she last saw the woman.

"So, to which do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Nathan?" she asked, in a sweet voice, smiling slightly at him.

"We have a case, a murder case actually. The victim was … well, there's no point in describing it to you, here, take a look at it yourself" he said and handed her a few photos of the body from the woods.

Elizabeth looked at the photos without any expression on her face. The fact that she was so expressionless while seeing photos of a human body mutilated beyond recognition told Audrey that she was either accustomed to this sort of sights or that she was the author of this macabre image. Still, none of these two thoughts actually placed Elizabeth in her mind. Where had she seen her before?

The woman looked first at Nathan, and then her eyes moved towards Audrey. She felt as if a cold wind started blowing towards her, coming from those icy cold eyes. Then her eyes wandered back to Nathan.

"It's okay, she knows about Haven" he said.

"How much does she know?"

"Enough to know that you are not a human" Audrey said. She expected to see surprise or outrage on Elizabeth's face, but she saw only a growing smile until a chuckle left her mouth. Several moments later, she spoke again.

"That is the work of a Third Kinder" she said, watching closely Audrey's reaction. She hoped she had none. She threw back a question, "A what?"

"There are three types of vampires in this world and they are all easily distinguished from each other" Elizabeth said. "The first kind is the oldest kind, also known as 'the pure bloods'. These creatures are proud to walk on this Earth, they are intelligent and they never kill their prey. They are probably one of the most influential men and women that ever lived in your world as humans and continue to live on as vampires."

"Like you" said Audrey, instantly remembering where she saw the woman in front of her. She was the same woman from an old photo of the founding families that first came into Haven. It was the same tall woman with the long dark as midnight hair and the strangest thing was that … she looked exactly the same as she did more than a century ago! Audrey thought.

"Yes, like me" answered the woman. "Are you going to do something about that, agent?"

"No, she's not" Nathan said and before Audrey opened her mouth to say something against it, he added his own question, hoping to calm Audrey down. "So how do we kill it?"

Elizabeth laughed. She got up and motioned for them to follow her. Even though Audrey was not very happy with the idea of following a vampire into a dark room of a house whose layout was unknown to her, she did it. She walked closely behind Nathan, with a hand on the holster of her gun, careful at each move the vampire in front of her made.

She led them into a large hall with lots of shelves filled with books of all shapes and sizes. Some of them looked old, others looked young and even though she wanted to remain focused on the task at hand, which was making sure Elizabeth didn't take them into a trap, she couldn't help but wonder at the large number of books which filled the present room. They reminded her of movies with book collectors, people who would be willing to kill for an old collectable book.

The vampire looked closely at each book and eventually chose one of them from the shelves. It looked old, with pages eaten away by time and words barely visible. She put it on the large table in the middle of the room and motioned for the two people to sit down. Nathan did so immediately, while Audrey decided that she could reach the door faster standing than sitting.

"Ah, here it is!" said Elizabeth, while tracing a line from a long paragraph with a finger. "Third Kinder are the reason humans fear so much of 'strigoi', as the first humans who came in contact with the species named it. They are mindless beasts, aware of only two things, for their primitive minds cannot assess more: feeding and hiding from the sun. They cannot be talked to, scared or even chased away. They will choose their prey and focus only on the task of getting the precious blood, without caring about the consequences. It is said that the Third Kinder are the remnant bodies of the humans whose souls are still roaming the world of the undead, unable to defeat the Hound of Hades and return into our world as pure blood vampires. They are different from the Second Kinders, which are vampires who came back from the world of Hades and no longer care about humans or care too little to give their short lives a second thought, in the way that they make no distinction between them and animals. They represent, in a sense, the purest form of barbaric humanity."

Elizabeth stopped for a moment, in deep thought after reading everything out loud. "Well?" asked Nathan. "Does it say anything about how to kill one?"

The woman looked up with a look of fright on her face. "No. I will take care of it." As she got up from the table, Audrey drew closer to the book but before reading anything, the vampire took it and put it back on the shelf. "That will be all agent. Now, if you will accept my apologies, but I have to lead you outside. I have just been reminded of an old task I must fulfill. I hope I have been helpful. Good luck in finding the culprit that committed such an audacious and awful murder. Goodbye."

In a few moments, Audrey and Nathan were both standing outside the house, with the door being slammed in their face. Although Audrey was feeling rather relieved, Nathan had a frown on his face.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Audrey. She was very curious now about the reason why Elizabeth had kicked them out so quickly. It was obvious she remembered or noticed something regarding that particular creature that committed the murder, so why not share it with them?

"I am not very sure about that" said Nathan, avoiding her eyes. "Maybe she really had some important things to do."

"Yeah, right. I think the coroner's report has to be ready by now, how about we go and read it? Maybe it will be more helpful than this."

They walked back to the station, while Elizabeth was watching them from the window of her room.


	4. The Memoirs Ball

**Chapter four**

**The Memoirs Ball**

**1**

It was night outside and the moon was shining brightly on the sky filled with the white light of the stars. Nathan was alone, dwelling on his thoughts, driving towards a destination he didn't consciously know. The snowflakes were crashing on the windshield of his car, making the road barely visible, but he didn't care. He knew exactly where the house was and he was sure there was no way of missing it.

As he was driving, his mind kept replaying the one memory he shared with Elizabeth, the ball he attended a lifetime ago, the one he would give anything to be invited at again. He remembered every little detail, every word the vampires said. He remembered how beautiful Elizabeth looked in the pale light of the moon, wearing one of those old fashioned gothic dresses and how her words, spoken then, barely above a whisper, sounded like those of an angel. He remembered how he swore to himself he would be with her or die, when the thought of not being with her was deep in the back of his mind.

Nathan stopped the car, closed his eyes, and let the images float again through his mind.

**2**

_The lights are dimly lit in the large hall and whispers can be heard from everywhere. People are in here, yet he can't see them. He's waiting for the introduction, the first words from the King, after which the ball can go on. He knows what to expect, or at least the official things that must happen for Elizabeth told him. He also wants to catch a glimpse of the Queen, the one that, according to some sources, is Elizabeth's enemy. He doesn't know what happened between them, but people –or vampires, more exactly- say they hate sharing the same town, let alone the same room._

_He pushes these thoughts deep in his mind, refusing to let them conquer his mind. He must focus on the present, because this event only happens once in a human's life. The rules, few in number, yet great in importance, clearly state that a human cannot be invited twice at this ball, so he must remember every little detail that happens here._

_He feels Elizabeth's hand in his, cold, but reassuring and powerful. He looks at her and even though he only sees her face, he smiles. He agrees with himself, with that part of him that was afraid of what she was, of what she could do, that he would spend the rest of his life with her. She's the love of his life, he decides then and there. There will never be anybody else like her._

_All of a sudden, a burst of light fills the room. Slowly, the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling are lit up and the light floods the entire room. Nathan is awed at how huge the room is, he feels like the chandeliers have to be at least twenty meters above his head. He looks around and he sees faces with mouths hanging open, staring at the walls, the people around them, the windows, everything!_

_Nathan looks around and notices the walls are covered with paintings and he can recognize a few Elizabeth showed to him. That's a Van Gogh one and over there is one belonging to Picasso! He sees sculptures and drawings and what looks like poems placed all over the walls, covering them in history and art. He is awed at the immense gallery placed on the walls of this hall._

_Elizabeth moves near him and she slowly places a kiss on his jaw. "Do you like what you see?" she asks, but he is unable to answer that. He is still amazed by the huge number of works of art all around him._

_A few moments later, a powerful male voice fills the hall. "Good evening, ladies and gentleman!" Nathan looks ahead and sees a tall man with a curly long hair, dressed in what looks like it's an ancient costume for Kings, with a long red robe and a crown on his head. "I welcome you all – vampires and humans alike – to the wonderful Memoires Ball! I don't wish to keep you from entertaining each other for too long, so I will be brief. My only requests tonight are to enjoy each other's company and, particularly for my fellow vampires, -"_

_At this point, the man says something in what sounds like old Latin, words at which the vampires in the hall chuckle softly. He looks at Elizabeth and sees her with a sad smile on her face. He steps in front of her and kisses her softly, to make the sadness go away. Before saying anything, she takes his hand and leads him through the crowd, telling him she wishes to meet somebody._

_And so the ball began._

_The ball lasts for two weeks, a period of ti__me in which the days are spent in Elizabeth's bed and the nights are spent listening to entire life stories. Every night, several vampires share their life stories with the humans present, hoping that their history will not be forgotten with their deaths. Some of them are old, ancient even, having lived during the Roman Empire and the first Chinese Dynasties. Others are young, their human lives having ended only a century ago. Nathan listens carefully, amazed by the stories of Gods who come on Earth and great warriors who fought in battles remembered in History books, spoken by the people who were by their sides._

_One night, Elizabeth's turn comes. She slowly gets up and sits on a chair at the end of the long table at which all the guests sit. She tells everybody the story of her life and Nathan listens with wide eyes and awe, realizing only now how complex she was and how much she endured._

_She talks about her human life, the life of a poor daughter of a peasant who enjoyed drinking too much. She talks about the most dreadful day of her human life, the one when, coming home from the town, she found only chaos instead of the usual quiet. Her sisters were yelling, running here and there, cursing the name of their father and begging the Gods to kill him right then and there. Elizabeth finds out from a brokenhearted sister that her father had killed their mother, beheading her and setting fire to her body, claiming she was a witch trying to poison him._

_She speaks quietly and Nathan feels mesmerized by her voice. She moves on to talk about how she imagined so many times that night she would go down the hallway and kill him with an ax. She doesn't do that, but somebody knocks on her window and she sees a beautiful man, with long dark hair, shirtless and wearing only long dark pants. She doesn't fear him, her fear of dying is gone and she welcomes death, so she lets him in, but instead he doesn't kill her. He takes her in his arms and runs far, far away so fast, she feels she's flying on the wings of the wind. He lays her down on a beach and she watches the moon reflecting on the dark blue water, while the calm and quietness of the sea fills her, calming her down. He talks to her in a hushed voice, telling her that this is not her faith; her destiny is different, her book is still written by the Gods and its pages are many in number. As time moves forward, more and more pages are being added._

_She agrees with him and a week later, she's a vampire. He teaches her so many things and she leads a happy life with him. They travel all around the world and he treats her like a princess, so different from the way she was being treated by her own human family. She slowly learns to be a lady and she is by his side at every party, every ball, every meeting, and every bed._

_Everything is perfect until one day, when they are caught by human hunters. They chain them both in a basement, but he manages to get away. She yells for him to help her, to take the chains off of her, but he only looks at her. Free and walking on his own feet, he takes one last look at her … and then leaves. He walks away from her and she remains dumb folded and once again, her life is filled with sorrow._

_She is saved from death by a merciful peasant who sees her heart is filled with sadness. He lets her feed off of him, gladly giving his life to her … but she doesn't take it. She lets him live and instead decides to let the Sun send her soul to the Gods, for this life is only sorrow. The peasant doesn't let her do that and instead makes sure she is well fed and well taken care of. He's poor and lonely and broken hearted, having nobody, so they talk every night, until she realizes she's falling in love with him._

_Elizabeth stays by his side until he dies of old age. Time means nothing to her, for it has no toll on her, no consequences on her body. He grows old with time, until he dies of old age and once again, she's alone and broken hearted. She buries his body and decides to walk away, wishing the Gods will take her soul to them, so she won't have to suffer so much._

_The years pass, meaning nothing to her. One day, years later, she decides to go back to the house in which her human lover had died and once there, she meets a man. He seems to recognize her … yet he doesn't. He seems to remember her … but he couldn't. He tells her of times they spent together … yet he couldn't know that. Elizabeth believes he is the reincarnation of her previous lover and once again, decades pass and their love only grows more powerful._

_Once again, time takes away the man she loves. She mourns him again, buries him again and then walks away again. She is convinced he won't be back this time, that his soul has left this world and now, he is attending feasts and balls with the Gods. Nonetheless, she keeps praying every night that he will be there, in front of his old house, waiting for her, searching for her._

_Years later, she goes back to that place, convinced there will be nobody there. The Gods are powerful and they fulfill wishes of special humans, but Elizabeth is convinced she is not one of them. She dreads that place, for she knows if he won't be there, she will once again contemplate walking in the Sun and welcoming death._

_She walks slowly in front of the old house, carefully watching for anybody that might be there. But there's nobody there and as she enters the house, now old and barely standing, her heart fills with a pain so powerful, it throws her to the ground and rips out pieces of her. She yells and curses everybody – the destiny, the humanity, her maker, her father, herself- and then somebody knocks on the door. She opens it only to find a boy, not more than twenty years old, with tears on his face. She recognizes him immediately, even before he starts telling her how much he's searched for her, how long he waited for her._

_She spends hours, describing every encounter in detail and nobody interrupts her. They all smile when she smiles and shed a tear when she sheds one. Nathan is moved by the feeling of unity that bounds all these vampires together. He starts wishing that one day he will be sitting at the head of the table, telling his own life story that starts with Elizabeth asking for help when he was still human, living in a town named Haven._

_As the hours drag on, Elizabeth's story comes to an end. He still remembers her last words and he is sure he will never forget them, because those are the words that crushed his hopes into ever becoming her husband and her lover:_

"_I am waiting for him. It's almost time. Two long and lonely decades have passed since I buried him. It is time and I came to Haven, to his old house, our meeting place and I am just waiting for him to show up" she says with a huge smile on her face, as the whole audience applauds._

_Nathan is heartbroken, yet he applauds with the others._

**3**

Nathan is woken from his dream by the annoying tune of a phone. He grabs it and sees Audrey's name on it, but he doesn't answer it. He groans loudly, still feeling his heart ache at the memory, even if it happened so many years ago. A thought struck him, something Elizabeth said last night. "It is said that the Third Kinder are the remnant bodies of the humans whose souls are still roaming the world of the undead, unable to defeat the Hound of Hades and return into our world as pure blood vampires" …

What if … what if she couldn't wait this time? What if that creature roaming free in Haven, killing humans was Elizabeth's old lover, or better said, what remained of him now, after his soul wasn't able to come back as a pureblood vampire?

He picks up the phone and calls Audrey.

"Audrey, listen, I think I have an idea about who this creature is" he says.

"You do? Well you'd better figure out quickly, 'because it attacked again."

"What?"

"Nathan, there's been another murder."


	5. The Gods have spoken

**Chapter Five**

**The Gods have spoken**

**1**

When Nathan arrived at Elizabeth's house, he already knew what questions he would ask her. He would try to keep his feelings out of this and no matter how hurt she was by his questions, he would simply tell her this was his town and it was his duty to protect the humans living in it.

When he stopped the car and got out of it, determined to be a man, even though he would probably hate himself for the rest of his life, the last thing he expected to see was the old man who opened the door to him and Audrey a few nights ago running towards him. He was confused at first, and his confusion increased when the old man started talking, grabbing his arm and taking him away from the house, behind the trees in the forest.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing? I need to speak with Elizabeth, I think she-"

"Listen to me, Nathan" he said and stopped, listening for any sounds that would signalize somebody was following him. A few moments later, after being sure they were all alone, the old man talked in whispers. "Nathan, the Gods have spoken to me tonight. You have to kill the creature."

"I know that, why do you think I was coming to talk to Elizabeth? I need to know –"

"No!" the man yelled. "Didn't you hear what I told you? The Gods have spoken to me tonight and they told me you have to kill the creature. It has no place in this world, it has to die and it has to die tonight!"

"Wait, what do you mean the Gods have spoken to you? What are you talking about?"

"Nathan! I have known your grandfather, he was a great man and he had high hopes of you, so don't disappoint him! You must kill the creature, no matter what Elizabeth says or does!"

Nathan looked at the man for a few moments before asking the question that arose into his mind and that burned him ever since he remembered the ball. "It's him, isn't it? It's that –"

"Elizabeth's lover, yes."

"And she tried to turn him into a vampire?"

"Yes. And now he is dead and she won't let go of him. She keeps lying to herself that he is only taking longer to turn, when she knows very well he is dead."

"So why do I have to kill it? She'll hate me for it, maybe even kill me."

"It is the will of the Gods, and one does not question it!"

"Your Gods are dead!" yelled Nathan, sick of this old man's stories, sick of listening to him, sick of this whole situation.

"You are a mere mortal; you do not know what you speak of. The Gods live through the old people and as long as they are alive, the Gods will live on and on. They have spoken to me tonight and they clearly said that the creature must die and Elizabeth must be a witness to its death. Who am I to question it?"

Nathan was silent for minutes on end. If it was true what he was saying, then all he had to do was kill the creature. That way, Haven was free of another murderer. However, one thought kept popping up in his head.

"How do I kill it?" he asked the old man.

"Easy. You shoot it. Third Kinders aren't known for their ability to heal. Although they are very strong compared to humans, they are vulnerable to any type of weapon. They are an abomination, not meant to live on this Earth."

"How do I find it?"

"It will be here. Third Kinders unconsciously follow their maker. Now, go back to your partner and convince yourself. You will see, the first murder was committed far from here, but the second one was closer. It will come tonight, so you should prepare yourself and be here. The faith of the inhabitants of this town depends on the outcome of this fight."

As the old man was leaving, Nathan let his body fall to the hard ground and leaned his body against a large tree. This was insane! Or was it? He and Audrey had killed creatures much more threatening than this abomination. He was sure he could kill it. The question was, would Elizabeth agree with it? Or will she hunt him down and taking his life in exchange of the one of her lover?

**2**

Back at the station, Nathan found Audrey in her office. She was deep in paperwork, but sighed relieved, when she saw him.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you for hours!" Audrey said, obviously frustrated with Nathan's absence.

"I went back to Elizabeth's."

"And?" asked Audrey, after a few moments of awkward pause Nathan maintained.

"She … well, that old man that answered when we went to question her told me how to kill the creature."

"Alright, great then! How do we do it?" she asked, enthusiastic at the idea of killing the thing that committed those heinous murders.

"We shoot it. Pretty simple. According to him, this type of vampire is not very strong. Its only advantage is in physical strength."

"Okay. How do we find it?"

"It will be … he'll make sure the creature goes to the forest next to Elizabeth's house."

Audrey paused for a few minutes, questions circling into her head. Nathan noticed her silence and for the first time since this case started, he decided to answer all her questions.

"Alright, shoot. Ask whatever you want."

"Who is this woman? And why does she know about this … 'thing', whatever the hell it is?"

"Her name is Elizabeth and she's an old vampire. She doesn't harm people; she's actually quite … childish. I can tell she lost a great deal of her life because whenever she's in an official place or around strangers, she acts tough and all knowing, but in private, once you get to know her, she's pretty childish. She giggles a lot; she's really shy, and so on."

"You seem to know a lot about her" asked Audrey and Nathan could feel where she was knocking with this statement.

"We umm … had a thing going on."

"A thing?"

"Yes."

"Like a relationship?"

"Yes. No. I don't know. We … let's say we dated for about three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Audrey chuckled, but stopped when she saw Nathan's look. "I'm sorry. Why didn't it work? You seem to like her. Oh come on, Nathan, it's quite obvious you like her. It's in the way you look at her, the way you talk about her. Why didn't it work?"

"She … she loves somebody else."

"Oh … I see"

"Somebody dead."

Audrey frowned. "You lost me."

"It's complicated."

"We've got all day."

Nathan sighed. He decided to tell her the story that Elizabeth told at the ball, skipping some parts, mentioning only the ones related to their case. He wasn't ready to tell her everything about Elizabeth. Truth was, he felt a little embarrassed to tell his partner that the only time when he was in love was with a vampire and on top of that, a vampire with her heart already taken.

"Wow" Audrey said, after Nathan had finished telling his story. "I can't believe you believed her."

"What?" he asked, bewildered.

"Well, have you ever considered that she lied? You're a cop here. Maybe that thing, whatever it is, is one of her pets or maybe she's doing experiments on it and somehow it got away. You're not going to question her?"

"Wha … what? What are you saying? Elizabeth didn't lie!"

"How do you know, Nathan? You're so blindly in love with her, if she would tell you the sky is green, you'd agree with her in a second!"

"That's not true!" he yelled. "If she's lying, then she's better than any actress I have ever seen. But she's not! If you don't want to kill that thing, then fine. I can take care of it."

Nathan stormed out of the room, angry at himself mostly for being such an idiot and telling Audrey everything. She wasn't there, she didn't know what he knew, and she wasn't a witness when Elizabeth was telling her story. Audrey couldn't be a part of it, he realized. He had to kill that thing. He couldn't let Elizabeth take her fury out on Audrey. If there was somebody to blame, it was him.

**3**

The day passed uneventful and in the evening, Nathan decided to go back at the station to apologize to Audrey. After thinking it over, he realized she was right. She was only thinking like a cop, she couldn't be blamed. After arriving at the station, he was deep in thought and didn't notice her coming towards him.

"Nathan!"

"Audrey? Listen, I'm sorry, you're right-"

"Of course I'm right. It's time, right? Do you have your gun?"

"Yes."

"Then off we go. We have a vampire to kill, right?" she said and before he could comment on her statement, she was in the car, waiting for him to drive.

**4**

Several hours later, when they arrived at the meeting place, they noticed the forest was very quiet. There wasn't anybody there, so they decided to wait.

"Do you think she'll be here?" Audrey asked.

"That's what the old man said."

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of rustling leaves. It was not very loud, but as soon as they heard it, Nathan and Audrey both pulled out their guns and began walking slowly, careful not to draw attention on themselves, towards the place where the sound came from. The creature seemed not to hear them and it made no attempt at hiding itself or the sounds that could draw attention to it. Audrey gasped when she first caught a glimpse of it.

She looked closer to its face and realized it resembled the one of Nosferatu, the old vampire from black and white movies. The round bald head, the extremely white skin and the big ears definitely resembled the movie character. However, its skin was slowly peeling off of its head in white and red chunks. It was walking with great difficulty because of the massive hunchback and the long arms were sweeping the earth. Even though it was at quite a distance from them, Audrey could hear its deep breath. It couldn't breathe right and its eyes were fixed ahead of him, where the house was located. Audrey made a mental note to ask Nathan later on why exactly it wanted Elizabeth that much.

She looked towards Nathan and saw that he was pointing at the creature too. He wanted to shoot. Before lifting her gun, the creature stopped. It wasn't moving and its breathing had stopped completely. Then, the creature did something that scared Audrey so much, she wanted to run and never look back. Its head started turning towards her with a slow motion and she could now see the eyes filled with blood, the huge mouth that was drooling and the long white fangs. Audrey saw the look of pure hatred in the thing's eyes and before she could react, it lunged towards her with an unimaginable speed.

It crashed into her body, and tried to bite into her, like an angry Rottweiler. It bit deep into her shoulder and she screamed, wondering where the hell was Nathan, what the hell was he doing, until all of a sudden the creature stopped. It looked into her right and Audrey did the same, to see what stopped it from killing her.

Elizabeth was standing there with an astonished look on her face. She was wearing a long dress with a flower imprint and Audrey noticed that even like this, in this cold winter night, she still looked utterly beautiful and breathtaking. She looked at the creature and the creature looked back at her and they exchanged a full conversation only through their eyes.

Elizabeth shed a tear and her bottom lip started shaking. Her arms went around her body as she cried softly. During this time, nobody made any noise. Nathan stood with his gun in his hands, Audrey felt the pain of her shoulder, but it was a distant pain, and the creature never moved its eyes from the woman's eyes.

Eventually, the old man appeared from behind the vampire. "Do you see now, milady?" he said, touching lightly Elizabeth's arm. She never broke contact with the creature's eyes. "Do you see what he has become?" he said, so gently, like talking with a child, trying to explain to him that the ducks are not sleeping in the water, that they are actually dead.

The creature moved away from Audrey and walked slowly, shyly towards Elizabeth. Nathan ran and kneeled next to Audrey, looking at the bite marks on her shoulder to see how bad the wound was. The creature only bit into her shoulder, it didn't rip flesh off of her body, so the wound, although bleeding, wasn't that severe.

Elizabeth kneeled and opened her arms towards the creature. "Come to me, my love. Come to me" she said and the creature walked to her. It placed its head on the woman's shoulder as her arms closed around it. She kissed its neck, its cheeks and its head while squeezing its body close to hers. "It's okay, my love, it's okay. I'll take care of you, don't worry, nobody will hurt you" she kept saying in hushed whispers in its ears.

The old man saw what was going on and he frowned at the scene in front of him. "Nathan!" he said, walking closely to where he and Audrey were lying. "Nathan, you have to kill the creature!" he said in a hushed voice, careful so Elizabeth wouldn't hear him. "You must kill it! It's an abomination, it will kill again!"

"But … it looks … at peace now. Maybe Elizabeth will-"

"Nathan! Listen to me! The Gods told me Elizabeth must be a witness to the creature's death! You have to kill it!"

"If you hurt the love of my life I will end you" Elizabeth said, using a threatening tone of voice. As her eyes and Nathan's came in contact, he saw pure hatred into hers. "There is no need of killing him. I will make sure he never kills again. He is mine and now that I've found him, I will take care of him" she added, in the same tone of voice. The creature hadn't moved from her arms and after she saw that they understood her message, Elizabeth went back to whispering in its ear, while her hand slowly moved up and down its hunchback.

"You have to do it!" said the old man, a look of fright in its look. "Do it, Nathan! The Gods wish it dead and so it must be!"

"Why can't you do it?" he asked the old man.

"I … the Gods clearly said-"

"Fuck your Gods! Why don't you get the gun and shoot it?!"

"I cannot intervene with the Gods' plan! A human must kill the creature, not a vampire!"

"You … you're a vampire?" asked Nathan.

"Shoot it!" the old man grabbed the gun and put it in Nathan's hands. "Do it now, before it's too late!"

Nathan tried to shake his head, but before doing that, the sound of a gun being shot was heard, followed by Elizabeth scream. He looked back … and saw Audrey holding the gun she just fired.

Elizabeth's yells and screams filled the quiet forest. The creature lay on her feet with its eyes open, a look of surprise and shock on its face. She looked desperate, yelling words in different languages accompanied by shrieks of pain. She tried to lift its body, but it lay limp on her feet. She put her hand under its head, slowly drew it on her chest and started mourning him.

Minutes later, she looked towards Audrey with the same look of pure hatred. "You run. You hide. You kiss your family goodbye and write your will. Because I'm coming for you. And after I'm done with you, you'll be begging for death the same way I am going to, now that he is dead. Now leave. Let me bury him for the last time."

She returned to mourning her lost love, and this time, her eyes cried blood, because the pain was both emotional and physical for her.

Nathan took Audrey into his arms and walked away from the scene towards the car. Careful not to hurt her even more, he helped her on the front seat. Before starting the car, the old man appeared in front of Audrey's window.

"The Gods are thankful to you and in deep gratitude, milady Audrey" he said, bowing to her.

"Oh yeah? Tell them to send me a check" she said, drawing out a chuckle from Nathan. Before starting the car, the old man said something else.

"Miss Audrey? She won't come after you. She was hurt and needed somebody to blame. But she will not hurt you. I will make sure of that."

Audrey chuckled as Nathan started the engine and drove away from the scene towards the hospital, to get Audrey's wound checked out.


	6. The end and the beginning

**Chapter six**

**The end and the beginning**

**1**

Several days later from the incident in the forest, Audrey still had a bandaged shoulder, but the wound turned out not to be too serious. She was feeling her strength coming back into her shoulder and she started working on a new case. Apparently, people were aging in a day as they would in years. Definitely a case worth of Haven.

Nathan entered her office, bringing donuts and hot coffee.

"Yummy, coffee and donuts, what more can I ask for?" Audrey asked.

Nathan smiled as he handed over the items. "So, any plans for today?" he asked.

"We should interview the guy that owns that nursing home. Maybe he can tell us more about why in the past week, the number of his patients increased from twenty to seventy eight and all of them are Haven residents."

"Alright, sounds good" he said and threw her the keys. "You're driving."  
Life was back as it was in Haven, the most interesting town on Earth.

**2**

Elizabeth sat on a bench in front of her house, watching the moon. Her eyes were puffed from all the crying and she no longer had any tears inside her. She felt constant pain that seemed not to stop, but it was okay. She was ready to die, this time. She chose to welcome death close to the place where she and her lover were supposed to meet. She sat on a bench, waiting for death, in the same place where so many times in the past she waited for him to show up.

As the memories of the times when they met in this very spot started flooding her, she couldn't help but cry again. She looked at the moon and pleaded with her to let the sun come faster this time, to end all this agony she was in. She focused on the moon and in her mind, she began saying prayers to the Gods. She would meet them soon and she desperately hoped that he would be there as well, waiting for her.

She was dwelling on her thoughts, oblivious to everything around her, that she didn't notice the figure of a man coming closer. This tall figure, dressed in black, walked slower towards her and sat on the bench. She became aware of him sitting next to her, looking at her, but she let her head low, staring at her feet. Her dark hair covered her face and her view of the stranger next to her.

"Go away Nathan. There's nothing you can do for me now" she said, barely audible.

"I remember you" said the figure.

Elizabeth stopped breathing. Her mind put a face to the man next to her, but her doubts grew stronger by the moments. It was purely a man confusing her with somebody. There was no way that this was her lover. He was dead, buried in this very area, like his many other bodies he had over the years.

"Go away" she managed to say, before her sobs made it impossible to speak anymore.

"I remember you" he said again. "I have waited for you for so long" he said again, slower, as if talking to a small child.

Elizabeth gasped, unable to say any more. Could it be? The Gods were merciful and decided to grant her one and only wish? No. The Gods only fulfilled the wishes of special people and she was not a human and much less special.

"Look at me, Elizabeth" he said. She felt her head detach from her mind, slowly lifting and turning towards the face of the stranger. She gasped as her mind accepted the face she was seeing with her eyes. It was him! But he had the body and the face of the peasant that saved her from death so many centuries ago!

He touched her cheek and she closed her eyes, savoring this moment and praying this wasn't an illusion. He lifted her face to meet his and then kneeled in front of her. "I remember you" he said again.

"I remember you too" she added after moments of silence. She began crying again after he got up and squeezed her in a hug. But this time, there were no tears of suffering and agony, but tears of joy and happiness. The Gods were merciful, they brought him back!

After minutes of hugging and her crying on his shoulder, squeezing him near, convincing herself that it was not an illusion, he truly was here, he whispered the words she had longed for so long in her ears:

"I am back, my love. And this time, I will never leave you again. Time will mean nothing for us."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and cried away on his shoulder.


End file.
